UTHM Week Tracker
A simple tool I built to keep track of academic weeks at UTHM.
I built this little utility to answer the one question every student has: "Which week are we in?". It's a simple problem, but checking the university calendar every time was annoying.
Why I made this
It started as a personal script to help me stay organized. I realized my classmates had the same issue, so I put it online and shared it in our WhatsApp groups. I'm really happy that it's now used by over 100 students daily.
How it works
It's just plain JavaScript. I didn't want any heavy frameworks because I wanted it to load instantly even on slow campus Wi-Fi. It just takes the current date and calculates the week based on the semester start date, while accounting for the mid-semester breaks.
// A simple look at how I calculate the week
function calculateCurrentWeek() {
const semesterStart = new Date('2024-09-01');
const today = new Date();
// Account for breaks
const breaks = [
{ start: new Date('2024-10-15'), end: new Date('2024-10-22') }
];
// Logic to find the difference in days minus the break days
// ...
}
Things I learned
Building this reminded me that sometimes the simplest tools are the most useful. You don't always need a complex backend or a fancy UI to solve a real problem for people.
What's next
I want to try adding a "final exam countdown" and maybe a feature to import your own class schedule so it's even more useful.